WCPF champs for the 2nd year running

07/02/16

Today the F8 members went along to the WCPF InterClub DPIC Competition in Exeter – and we won!

Our small group comprises just 6 members, and when pitched against the larger clubs we have a smaller contingent of images to call upon. But that doesn’t deter us and we always strive to put together a set of strong images. Suffice to say we did pretty good, and congratulations go to George for his Commended image ‘Dirt Riders’.

Winning for the second year in a row is quite an achievement. Well done everyone.

Below is our entry and the individual image scores.

Dance Studio – by Nick

06/05/15

Last weekend David arranged a studio day, primarily for the f8 group, based at a new studio in Devon, although a couple of us could not make it and a mutual friend, Graeme Darling also attended on the day.

We had two very different models for the day, Joy Clarke a classically trained ballet dancer/model, and Jerome Wilkes a modern/contemporary dancer.

The studio had recently been converted from an old farm barn and equipped with a large 30ft infinity curve as a backdrop. David set up two large Bowens 500w lights with soft boxes at either side of the ‘stage’ and we took it in turns to shoot the dancers both handheld and with a tripod.

Both models were amazing to watch and photograph, as well as shooting some classical ballet poses we were able to capture some high jumps and street dancing in a variety of styles and costumes. This really pushed us out of our comfort zones and we all came away with some super shots – all very different !

Many thanks to David for organising a very different type of shoot, and of course to the two dancers Joy and Jerome who were very patient with us and must have been totally shattered at the end of the day!

f8 win 2015 WCPF DPIC

09/02/15

As a small club, f8 entered this annual competition and came first overall. This was an excellent result as we were up against the biggest clubs in the south-west, including Bristol Photographic Society and Dorchester Camera Club.

Each of 18 images were scored by three national judges, giving a possible total of 15 points per image. Our lowest score was 11 and both David and George scored a 15.

This may well be the first time a small club has come first overall. Everyone is chuffed to bits with this great team effort.

Dorset, October 2014

23/10/14

Some of us went to Dorset and stayed in the pods at Durdle Door campsite. Unfortunately, Pauline and Alan couldn't be with us, but we were joined by Paula Fearnley and Lyn Laver. The weather forecast was horrendous, though the actual weather was great during daylight hours. We photographed at Durdle Door with Nick and Paula being the only ones brave (or stupid) enough to climb down to the beach. 10 stopper pictures seemed to be the order of the day. Next we visited Tyneham, the village vacated during WW2 so the army could use the area for live firing practice. Then we had an abortive trip to Kimmeridge – Nick's app for tide times seemed to be wildly out of kilter. So, we went to Corfe and Swanage, ending up photographing trains. Many thanks to choo choo George for that one.

The next day we did some more photography at Durdle Door before going to Portland to photograph waves and kite surfers. The weather was fantastic. The weekend went really well with plenty of good company, eating and drinking. The truth serum worked very well indeed. Now to process all the images...

RIAT 2014 by Nick

17/07/14

The Royal International Air Tattoo is billed as the largest airshow in the world. Over 100,000 visitors visit each day to see the world’s finest military aircraft on display and it didn’t disappoint.

This year Jane, David and myself decided to visit on both Friday and Saturday. Each day after an early rise, and a hundred mile drive we joined the queue with thousands of other people waiting to get in.

We had all brought trollies to carry out kit which was just as well as the site is vast, over 2 miles long of static aircraft on display and crowd centre, our destination, was half way. When the gates were opened, the great ‘trolley dash’ began…

On the Friday it was Red Arrows pit day where we could get up close to the Hawk’s with their newly decorated tail fins to celebrate their 50th display season - happy birthday to the Reds. We then wandered around the static aircraft and finally in the afternoon we were treated to a 4 hour flying display including the Red Arrows and a multitude of helicopters and fast jets.

Saturday was the full display, lasting from 10am to 6pm with constant action, one display after another, all perfectly orchestrated and barely time to put your camera down. There were too many aircraft to mention, Apache, Chinook, F16, Gripen, Lancaster, Spitfire with amazing displays from the Patrouille de France and Italian Frecce Tricolori aerobatic teams and of course the Brietling Wingwalkers – totally mad to stand on top of the wing but confirmed insane to leave the harness and stand on the fuselage ! All to a running commentary and rousing music – what more can you ask for ?

The weather was almost perfect and we didn’t even have a single drop of rain. Here are some of the highlights of the display.

Sennen Cove, Cornwall Trip

06/04/14

The f8 members spent an enjoyable weekend away at Sennen Cove, Cornwall, last month. The weather was changeable - as usual for this time of year - but the photo opportunities were plentiful. The best thing about going as a group is that we all encourage each other to go out, no matter what the weather is. It was a packed weekend with excursions to Botallack Mines and Godrevy Lighthouse for landscapes, St Ives for street photography and Marazion for birds on the marshes and windsurfers in the bay. Sennen itself provided some creative opportunities with big waves crashing over the harbour wall. Here are a few images.

PAGB Nature Photographer of the Year

02/04/14

Forgot about this 'side competition' to the main PAGB Nature GB Cup. It was a nice surprise to find this in the PAGB Newsletter.

WCPF MPIX - a successful 2014 for the group

30/03/14

It’s been another successful year for f8 members in the WCPF Members’ Exhibition (MPIX).

Overall we had 25 acceptances, with 12 images receiving awards: Jane had 3 images accepted; Pauline had 7 accepted with 3 awards; Alan had 6 accepted with 5 awards; David had 5 accepted with 3 awards; and George had 4 accepted with 1 award.

Most amazingly, it was a clean sweep of the Open Digital section: Alan had Gold, Pauline had Silver, and George took Bronze. And David had Gold in Open Nature.

WCPF and PAGB 2014

03/03/14

This is our second year of entering regional and national competitions as a club.

We came joint 5th out of 55 clubs in the WCPF Inter-Club DPIC this year – five places higher than last year! Congratulations to David for getting a Highly Commended for his Bee-Eaters, which was also the highest scoring f8 image.

In this year’s PAGB GB Cup we came 11th in the Small Clubs Open Competition and 8th out of 94 clubs in the Nature competition.

George’s “Hokkaido Dawn” was the highest scoring Open image, and Alan’s “Red-footed Falcons Mating” was the highest scoring Nature image.